G'day everyone.
Well, I have been bludging for a few hours now so it is time to get back into it.
After much consideration I have decided that my next build will be Trumpeter's 1/350 CVN-65 USS Enterprise. Yes, you may not see it listed in any Trumpeter listing but they make a 1/350 Enterprise.. and it cost me the princely sum of $35. Yes you read that right, no finger trouble or dyslexic typing, $35..
The 1/350 USS Alabama was next age wise, then the HMS Hood, but the Enterprise campaign is ending sooner than later and I haven't failed to finish a campaign yet and I don't want to start now thanks.
So without any further ado let me introduce to you the Trumpeter 1/350 CVN-65 USS Enterprise with the Bee-Hive phased array radar. This is one thing that sets it apart from the Tamiya kit.
First up the instruction sheet and the forward deck..

Then the centre and rear deck pieces..

The main deck has the numbers and deck markings moulded with fine raised lines. I believe the carriers have the markings also applied to the deck with welds so this is an accurate representation of the deck.


I also obtained a set of Gator Masks to help me paint the deck.
Next up we have bags of sprues..


Here we have the 1 metre+ hull

Just like the Tamiya version the hull is held together with screws and metal bits.

Now a few pictures showing the hull details..




Now for the stand and parts to motorise the model..

And here is something not included in the Tamiya kit for 6 times the price in some places, a one motor into four propellers gearbox if you want to motorise the beasty.. maybe I will..

Next we have some sample sheets from the instructions..




And a page for the air wing. Notice F-18s are included but are not correct for this early version..

So there you have it. Some manufacturers would charge you $35 just for the gearbox included in this kit so it is outstanding value as it sits in the box.
Join me in my enterprise to build the USS Enterprise from this kit and see if I can finish it before the campaign deadline arrives.
Cheers all
Warren

A great subject Warren, be interesting to see how it holds up next to the(original) Tamiya offering. Motorizing it could be fun.
Cheers,
Julian

Hey Warren, we still have five and a half months to go on the Enterprise Campaign, let's see if you can get it in there! 'Course with that beehive island I think you'll need some F-4s and A-4s, I think it was gone prior to the F-14.

Michael

@ Julian, I have that one in the stash for later as well mate. But that one is going to have a few extra details whereas this one is going to my Father-in-law's place for display. So far I can tell you the instuctions are a different layout, the colour guide is non-existent and there is a fair bit of clean up to be done on the parts. But I keep telling myself "only $35, only $35"..

@ Michael, Looks like I will have some investigating to do then as it comes with F-14s, F-18s and A-7s. I know the F-18s are wrong but I thought the F-14s may have been OK.

Thanks for joining th eparty guys!

Cheers
Warren

Hi Warren,

I will be watching as I plan to maybe do one in the future.
I agree......Great deal! and with gearbox! surely would make
a beautiful RC conversion.

Cheers,
Joe

Going to be watching with interest Warren! Only $35! Only $35!

Thanks Jim and Russell.

After getting a bit hot under ths collar after losing my first post due to finger trouble I am back from the shops and will endeavour to complete this Enterprise...
Plastic has been cut, and scraped, and filed, and filled.. only $35, only $35...
First job was to install the hull braces. I think they are the same as the Tamiya ones..

Then I found a slight mismatch in the moulds between the bow section and the main hull. Can you spot the problem?

Bit of trimming solved that problem.
Then came time to fill the chasm gap between the hull and bow after I glued the bow section in place and tightened up the screws.


As you may or may not notice the screw on one side is hidden by a convienient sponson, but I am not sure of the one on the other side..
I have since sanded and refilled on side using my new wonder putty that dries fast but can be easily removed with a cotton bud dampened with water, or I use fine wet and dry with water whoch rips it off very quickly.
Anyway, enough shatter i am off to the bench again until I fall asleep this afternoon. Only getting a few hours at a time hence the seeming lihjt speed builds at the moment.
Cheers all
Warren

Quick update..
Did I mention this ship has a few sponsons..






That's all for now. This is a low parts-count-intensity kit and it goes together pretty fast.. even though every part needs some trimming and adjusting, well many of them anyway.
$35, $35...
Cheers
Warren

The Big E progress continues. I built the island today and yesterday but the vast majority of the day has been taken up with painting. Haze grey everywhere!!
Luckily for me I have finally worked out how to airbrush Lifecolor acrylics and I just happened to have a WW2 US Navy Set of colours and one of them is Haze Grey. I am going to have to order another one as this one is being used up rather quickly.
Is strange as the first coat often comes up with dots all over the surface where the paint looks thin, but the second coat hides them perfectly so I am a bit baffled as to what causes this phenomenon.
Will have some pictures later.
Cheers
Warren

Tomcats were first deployed in '74, and they started taking the beehive off in '79 so you're good to go there.

One of the things done in the '79 overhaul was adding the CIWS, so Phalanx shouldn't be on her with the beehive. In fact, the port sponson it's on wasn't present before the '79 fit.

This will be fun to watch and off to a good start too warren.....Cheers mark

@ Scott, as this is a quicky fun build/practice for the main show Tamiya kit I am taking artistic licence and leaving the Phalanxs (phalanxi?) and sponson right where they are.. and I have already painted them..

@ Mark, I don't know how you do the 1/700 ships with super-detailing as there is just no way my eyes would like it.

I was tempted to go for it with some railing etc but this one is OOB.. I will go mad with the PE with the Tamiya version later on.

Can anyone tell me what colour the decks of the sponsons and catwalks were? The main deck is going to be Tamiya XF-63 as I have tons of that and it will show the deck a bit faded after application of the coating. I have a picture showing a very worn deck, but it looks a bit too worn to me.. lol

Cheers
Warren

For the non-flight deck surfaces on a 70's-80's USN ship use Model Master Dark Grey FS36176 or its equivalent

Hi all.
Well it is that time again when the ulcer takes over and the pain starts.. Off to the draw for some pain killers.
But enough of the negative whining stuff, I am off on a cruise ship for three nights tomorrow. The Pacific Dawn leaves Brisbane and heads out to sea where we steam around aimlessly while the passengers eat, drink and see shows all day and night. Everything except alcohol is included and seeing I can't drink at the moment anyway it is not going to be too expensive.
But on to the subject of this blog.
Here is a picture of the hull with a 30cm ruler next to it just to give you an idea of how big it is in 1/350..

It is also by far the widest ship model I have started at the moment. I have the 1/350 Nimitz in the stash as well and it could be even wider.
OK. A few more pictures of painted bits and bobs..
Elevators painted in the mixture I made for the deck

Then we have the deck itself sitting on the hull..


The bow picture was supposed to show the detail there.. oh well..
Next up the liferaft canisters..

The next build will use Tom's canister racks and hose reels that I ordered today. This build is supposed to be OOB but the hose reels are so SH^T that I am going to use PE ones from Toms when they get here. AN easy addition as they sit around the edge of the deck.

The two on the left are the kit supplied ones. The one on the right I modified by removing the hose part of each half and reversing the faces as the inside of the reels has much more detail than the outside. I then glued both to a short length of dtyrene rod, but it still looks nothing like the reel thing (geddit?!) so I abandoned that course of effort and will wait for the Tom's ones to arrive.
I also thought of using the Tamiya ones on this one but the moulding of each kit are EXACTLY the same for Sprue E. So even though you pay five or six times more for the Tamiya kit in a shop you still get the awful hose reels you get in the $35 Trumpeter kit.
That's it for now.

Greetings one and all.
After my return from the short cruise I spent today masking up the deck of the Enterprise, and it now looks something like this..

Took a while..
Anyway, until tomorrow. It is Tight-arse Tuesday here and we are having pizza for dinner..
And I got a very generous donation towards Warren's model purchasing fund on my birthday last Saturday.
Cheers all
Warren

Well, after spending all day yesterday preparing to paint today was the paint day. I misted on fine coats so I wouldn't have any paint flow under any lifted tape.



Then after waiting for the various parts to dry and masking and painting the red and yellow parts all that tape had to come off..

That's about half of it as I like to recycle tape when I can and I store it by sticking it to various flat surfaces of the hobby bench and surrounds.
And here are the finished deck bits pre decal application..


Well actually I just noticed that the catwalk floors have not been painted yet, so almost finished.
While I was waiting for one of the layers to dry I decided to finish off the island..

Looks a bit chunky without PE but this one is OOB.
That's it for now. Will attach the decks tomorrow after I paint those catwalk floors.
Until then
Cheers
Warren

That deck looks really nice.

Thanks Jim.

Smart work Warren, looking good. Hope you are recuperating after the nautical adventures.
Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian.
The cruise itself was fantastic. Smooth seas and little swell meant an extra smooth ride, but the shoulder and ulcer decided to have a party as well..
Hope you and the family enjoyed Portugal.
Cheers
Warren

Yes thanks, had a wonderful time in Lisboa and Sintra. Visited the naval museum in Belem and also found a restored 3-mast frigate from around 1850 in an old dry dock in Lisboa, (lots of photos, very interesting).
cheers,
Julian

that deck looks great!

Thanks Jonathan!
Well, I have decided this one is going to be totally OOB so the rubbish hose reels will be used on this one and the PE ones on the Tamiya version. More pictures anon.

Almost there!!





Should get the other side finished tomorrow then I will take more photos.
Oh and I forgot to mention that a proper airwing for the period is on its way from Hong Kong. Vigilantes, Intruders, Phantoms, Hawkeyes, Skywarriors all on their way. If I don't use them on this one they will be kept in reserve for the Tamiya CVN-65.
Cheers
Warren

Hi Warren I also have this one as well as the Tamiya Big E.Your's is looking v good and I hope to be able to start my one shortly.I'm finishing of a 1/350 Iwo Jima at the minute.I have not been able to do anything on it for about 3 months now due to health issues but the question I have is where did you get the correct aircraft for the Trumpeter Big E and is that the complete list you have on the previous post.Many thanks Anthony